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Original poster

A Suitable Boy

181 replies

GCAcademic · 12/07/2020 21:23

Just seen that this starts on 26 July on the Beeb.

I love, love, love the book. I read it during lockdown and wanted to start reading it again as soon as I finished it. Am hovering between excitement and apprehension in case the TV series is a let down.

Anyone else looking forward to this?

OP posts:
Greaterthanthesumoftheparts · 12/07/2020 21:24

Ooh thanks, have read the book but hadn’t heard about i being televised. Will look out for it.

yesbutnobut · 12/07/2020 22:17

Yes me too - have also been reading the book in lockdown so this is a real treat. I have high hopes so fingers crossed!

Applesandpears23 · 12/07/2020 22:29

Looking forward to this.

PerkingFaintly · 12/07/2020 22:31

Ooh, who's in it?

boomboom1234 · 12/07/2020 22:31

amazing book!!! Will defo be watching.

ChicCroissant · 12/07/2020 22:34

I saw the trailer - I am wondering how they will translate the massive book to the screen!

GlottalStrop · 12/07/2020 22:37

Great news OP. One of my all time favourite books.

CountFosco · 12/07/2020 22:45

Read this book when it first came out when I was in the first year of my PhD. Loved it so much. Surprised it has taken so long to be made into a TV show actually, it was massively popular in the mid 90s.

Livingthecovidaloca · 12/07/2020 22:48

Loved this book so much when I read it... a long time ago!
I always thought there would be a sequel, and it seemed to be hinted at at the end.

PerkingFaintly · 12/07/2020 22:54

OK, just answered my own question from IMDB. Don't recognise any actors' names yet, but Mira Nair is directing.

Pleeeeeeze don't let us down!

jessstan2 · 12/07/2020 22:54

Oh wow, I've read the book twice and still remember all the characters! I always thought it would make a good drama series. I'm so excited.

Mintjulia · 12/07/2020 22:55

A Suitable Boy is the only book I’ve failed to finish - except The Iliad - so I’m interested to see if the adaptation suits me better.

FiveFootTwoEyesOfBlue · 12/07/2020 22:57

Yes! I read this when it was published and really enjoyed it (was a big brick of a book IIRC).

jessstan2 · 13/07/2020 00:24

Yes it is a huge book, FiveFoot, but I found it 'unputdownable' when it was published. Then I read it again a couple of years later and it was even better.

I hope the BBC adaptation does it justice. I'm going to look it up to see who has been cast (I have my own ideas about who would be good in various roles but the Beeb may not agree with me :-) ). Another hope is that they don't turn it into a soap.

jessstan2 · 13/07/2020 00:30

PS: I looked at the cast and don't know any of them!

Original poster
GCAcademic · 13/07/2020 06:33

@Livingthecovidaloca

Loved this book so much when I read it... a long time ago! I always thought there would be a sequel, and it seemed to be hinted at at the end.
There was supposed to be a sequel, A Suitable Girl. Vikram Seth received a huge advance from his publisher to write it, but was asked to return the money as he failed to deliver the manuscript, apparently suffering from writer’s block. That was several years ago, and there doesn’t seem to have been any update since.

I’m glad to see other fans of the book on here. Let’s hope the series does it justice. It’s hard to tell from the trailer.

OP posts:
Livingthecovidaloca · 13/07/2020 08:17

I remember thinking she’d chosen the wrong man... though I was 20something. I wonder if my choice would be different at 40something

Original poster
GCAcademic · 14/07/2020 07:42

@Livingthecovidaloca

I remember thinking she’d chosen the wrong man... though I was 20something. I wonder if my choice would be different at 40something
Oh absolutely. I was pretty conflicted about it. In my 20s, I’d definitely have thought the same you. But reading it in my 40s, I could understand the thought process behind the decision, even if I wasn’t wholly sold on the man she married.
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PerkingFaintly · 14/07/2020 10:24

Ahhh I think I'd blotted that from my memory. I'm going to cry watching this, aren't I? Oh for the lost love!

Tablefor4 · 14/07/2020 16:43

This is my favourite book and they better not spoil it! Huge chunks are going to have to be let out though to make it fit into TV times

IntermittentParps · 15/07/2020 12:27

Excited but trepidatious is how I feel. I LOVE the book. I love Monsoon Wedding but don't know Nair's work otherwise. I know adaptations are often a let-down when you know the source material. It is an enormous and sprawling story, hard, I imagine, to make sense of on TV.
Will probably give it a go and see how it is.

HuaShan · 15/07/2020 18:12

This is so exciting! I read the book 25 years ago while travelling and I loved it.

TwinningIt · 16/07/2020 22:11

Oh thanks, I didn’t know this was going to be on TV! I loved the book, read it many years ago before a trip to India and it has really stayed with me in a way no other books have.

Original poster
GCAcademic · 20/07/2020 07:22

Just under a week to go! There’s an article in the Guardian about the series: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/jul/20/a-suitable-boy-india-bbc-historical-drama-mira-nair-vikram-seth

OP posts:
MinesaPinot · 20/07/2020 09:34

I read this only recently. I thought it was a bit wordy at times but loved Lata and the family. I've got high hopes for this and am really looking forward to it.

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